The Heart of A Kaiba
by Tilena
Summary: Set a few years after the Duel of Souls. Is there more to Kaiba than he seems? Is he capable of having feelings for someone other than Mokuba? R&R please. :)
1. Default Chapter

I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! I am a poor college student. Please do not sue me, as I do not have much to offer.

This is my first YGO! fic, and it would be nice if a person or two or three could find it in their hearts to review it. (Read: review or I won't write more!) Also, I have only access to the English versions of YGO!, and as such I will be using Tea, Joey, and Tristan instead of Anzu, Jou, and Honda. Sorry… Also, the chapters will tend to be short so I will actually write this. When I start to focus on length, I get obsessed and I can't write. Thank you for reading, and enjoy. ^_^

-----

The Heart of A ... Kaiba?

Chapter 01

He was strong. He was unemotional, cool, collected, and he was powerful. Not the same as being strong, mind you, but the kind of power that made people recoil from you. 

His name was Seto Kaiba. He stood at an impressive height of 6'1 and had striking blue eyes. His brown hair wasn't spectacularly imposing, but it's short, controlled cut both accentuated his face and the aura of power around him. Kaiba Corporation was his life, but his love lay in the form of a small boy. His little brother meant the world to him, and a few years ago he had wagered and lost his soul for Mokuba. It had not been one of the crowning moments of his life, but he had made it through.

Unfortunately, what he had made it through to was more problems from Kaiba Corp. It seemed that every greedy bastard in the world wanted to steal away what was his, what he had earned for in blood and in hard work. The latest problem, at least, had nothing to do with hostile takeovers, kidnappings, or being trapped within a game. It did, however, have a lot to do with the reason why he was currently sitting in an advertising class, a fundamental one, no less. The teacher, an older man with a rather large nose, was currently droning on about the importance of the font face used in advertising. Personally, Seto could care less. Unfortunately, Kaiba Corp needed some help with advertising, and since the hired help was apparently useless when it came to doing what they had gone to college for, he had decided to try it out before going on a pink slip rampage.

It wasn't interesting.

But, at least he knew that if he hinted towards a few terminations here and there, it would get the people who had supposedly studied years of this some incentive. After all, it couldn't be that hard to find an image, get some copy, and pick a font, could it? He supposed that he could always just go to some advertising firm, but he wanted people who were focused on just Kaiba Corp, not Kaiba Corp, Slim-fast, Tampax, and Nutra-grain bars all at the same time.

Still. The boredom was beginning to get to him. He was not a patient man by nature and this was severely stretching his limit. Still, he supposed it would not be wise to antagonize the man, who insisted on being called Adam (as opposed to professor), further than he already had with his "this is why we have computers" remark. Apparently this man was not a big fan of computers. Seto's mouth quirked when he thought of what his artificially intelligent computer at home would have to say to that.

He had been in the class for several weeks and had to turn in many projects. He wasn't even trying to get credits, but his teacher was apparently sadistic and demanded not only more of Seto's valuable time than any human other than Mokuba had the right to do, but he also demanded that Seto make stupid little illustrations. Seto was many things, but an artist was not one of them.

Absently, he put his hand in his pocket and thumbed his deck. He wondered idly if there would be any way to get in touch with Yugi Mutou; he wanted a decent duel for once. He put the thought out of his mind quickly -- since when had he gone out of his way to contact Yugi? Never. And he planned never on beginning. Though his feelings towards the younger boy had morphed from being pure loathing to tolerance, Seto had never quite mastered friendship. He almost wished that he could say it was from lack of trying, but, well, it was and he still didn't want to try. He had no need for lesser humans. Since this encompassed most of the world, he basically kept to himself.

Still, there was one thing that had managed to catch his eye. He felt almost stupid, insomuch as he could feel stupid, for letting this catch his attention. During class, while the professor talked about things that Kaiba could probably read a book on and grasp quicker, he sneaked peeks to the desk next to his. Its occupant showed absolutely no hint of paying any attention to the professor at all. Seto always found it amazing that Adam never commented on it. More amazing, though, was the fact that she always did her assignments and did them correctly. When it was her turn to comment or critique a work, she never seemed to miss a thing. 

She didn't miss his gaze on what held her attention so raptly, either. She tended to make notes in a sketchbook, rather than a conventional notebook. However, whenever she wasn't making notes (and, at times, when she was), she was filling up the pages of her book with doodles and words. Sometimes the doodles progressed to full page drawings, sometimes not. Her latest had been just a pair of eyes that were, he had to admit, quite good. There were a few lines that suggested a nose, and a slight curve that might've been the start of a mouth, but other than that she had left the eyes alone.

For a while he hadn't been sure of what exactly the words were, but after a bit Seto recognized the lyrics. The only time she ever acknowledged his interest in her work she had merely stared at him for a few seconds, her gaze devoid of any sort of emotion. No curiosity, no defiance, not even a hint of embarrassment crossed her face. She simply stared with her deep brown eyes, and then went back to scribbling a lyric. "Nobody gives a damn about me, or anybody else." At first, he thought that they were simply random lyrics, but he soon noticed a pattern. She had a presence, there was no denying it. It wasn't like his, though. It wasn't power. It was emotion, pure and simple. If she was happy, it was easy to tell. If she was upset, there was a dark aura around here. And whenever there was darkness, there were dark lyrics to accompany it.

Seto couldn't figure out if he was proud or irritated at himself for having figured this out. He was spending merely too much time paying attention to the antics of a flawed being. Being emotional was for the weak; the strong learned how to use their emotions to gain what they wanted. Though the closest she had shown him to an emotional outburst was the time she had informed a classmate, rather coldly, to leave her the hell alone, it was obvious that she was subject to all the female logic. In other words, none. And still, in spite of himself, he was intrigued.

Thus, he was glad when the class was over and Adam dismissed them. He thought about lingering, to see if she would say anything, then immediately felt foolish and left the classroom. Romance was the last thing on his life to-do list. He gathered his belongings and left, quickly, efficiently. Let the others remain and socialize; he had no need for their chitchat. He was there to learn, nothing more, nothing less. And so he left the college and located his Porsche. He admired the sleek blue paint, carefully matched to his eye color. Soon, he was cruising down the roads to Kaiba Land. Perhaps, by some freak chance, a player of some skill might actually show up.

No such luck, of course. He growled in exasperation at the severe deficit of people with plain talent these days. He almost thought about calling Yugi again, but his pride against abused and smacked down the notion before it became a reality.

"Big brother!" 

At those words, the dark cloud was lifted. Seto turned in his favorite swivel chair to face Mokuba. Though he had finally started to grow a bit, the kid still had a while to go. His wild black hair was sticking out everyone, despite Seto's best efforts to try to get Mokuba to cut it, or, at the very least, get some interest in hair gel. Perhaps not to the lengths that Mutou had gotten involved in it, but just enough to tame whatever furry thing had decided to reside upon his little brother's head. "Hey, Mokuba. What's up, kid?"

"Look!" The excited preteen flourished a test that had a large, red A marked across the top.

"Great job! I told you that you could do it," Seto smiled one of his rare warm smiles.

"Yeah, yeah. Now can I get that new game that you promised me?" Mokuba wrinkled his nose at his brother.

"Sure. However, if you don't do well on the next one, I'm taking it away. Got it?" He stared hard at his little brother, letting him know that he was completely serious. Inward, he was so proud. Mokuba asked Seto to help him out with studying, and it was gratifying to see something work.

"Yup! Well, I'm off to go see Tyler. You better have that game for me when I get home later!" Mokuba waved and turned away.

Seto reached out a hand and grabbed a hold of his brother's arm. "Now, you wait a second. Do you have any homework?"

Mokuba scoffed. "It's Friday, Seto. No homework on weekends!"

Seto looked at him. "Lucky kid. All right. Be in no later than 7:30." He let go of Mokuba's sleeve.

"Yes, Seto," Mokuba said obediently, then zipped off.

Seto settled back into his soft chair and regarded the video screens in front of him. He was watching every aspect of Kaiba Land, hoping to see a challenge. He didn't expect to see, right in front of him, studying a game between two players, the girl from his class.


	2. chapter 02

I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! I am a poor college student. Please do not sue me, as I do not have much to offer.

I only have access to the English versions of YGO!, and as such I will be using Tea, Joey, and Tristan instead of Anzu, Jou, and Honda. Pegasus J Crawford is, to me, Maxamillian Pegasus. I don't know a whole lot about YGO!, only what I've seen on TV. Sorry... Also, the chapters will tend to be short so I will actually write this. When I start to focus on length, I get obsessed and I can't write. Thank you for reading, and enjoy. ^_^

-----

The Heart of A ... Kaiba?

Chapter 02

Liliana was angry. Her glasses had long since been thrown across the room in her bitter frustration, and her hair was starting to stick up every way due to the constant running of her fingers through it. She willed the information to absorb in her brain, but alas, it stubbornly remained on the pages of her math book and not a whit of it became available in her mind.

She sighed as she reached over and cranked up the volume on her computer. "I had a bad day again…" the song started, and she sang along to it quietly. She felt close to tears and shoved the book away. "It's not even like I'm going to school for math anyway," she muttered. This didn't lesser her failure any.

Brown eyes that were framed by slim, black wire glasses wandered around the room and settled on a deck. Duel monsters, she thought with another wave of disappointment. Yet another thing that, for some reason, she couldn't understand. Life points, combos, sacrifices… it might as well have been another language. It wasn't even as though she had bought the deck, but since it was a gift from _him_, she was damn well trying her best to learn. Well. Maybe her second best.

Her eyes wandered to her walls, which were plain, save a few drawings. Mostly done in charcoal, with a few pencil sketching here and there, her artwork decorated the small apartment. The small, barren apartment, she thought unrelentingly. On her shelves that were cluttered with books there were a few pictures, mostly of landscape scene. Never people.

Lily's mind again switched gears. Back to the cards, she thought. She flipped through the deck, frowning thoughtfully. Though about half of her deck comprised of monsters, less than a fourth of those were worth a second look. "Pfft!" she snorted, throwing the deck back down on the table. To learn, she decided she'd have to out into and observe. No more reading books that either ticked her off with their over-simplification (and thus making her feel like an idiot) or the books that made her feel stupid just by being too hard to understand. It was time to go find someone to watch.

A few minutes later, Liliana wandered around aimlessly, from one duel to another. She had yet to find one that actually interested her. Then again, she thought while stopped at another table, it's not as though I know much of anything about this game anyway. Frowning thoughtfully, she watched the two players place their cards down. As far as she could tell, a person could have five monster cards and five trap or magic cards. Beyond that, she still was confused. She had only worked out the last time she came around that the defeated monster's attack points were subtracted from the other's attack points to get however many life points were taking off. At least, that's what she thought. Lily rather doubted that she would ever understand fusion and magic and all that other stuff.

She sighed, almost frustrated. She knew she wasn't an idiot, but for some reason this was one thing she couldn't just figure out on her own or from reading. Kids half her age were playing with ease, and yet she couldn't understand what simple magic cards did. "Blehhh," she muttered out loud, causing the duelists she was currently observing to give her a startled look. Blushing, she quietly moved on.

Now, this one was a little more interesting. The duelists were either very good or very bad. Their life points had fallen to 250 each. She glanced at the field. Hmmm. Some of the monsters in her deck were better than those that were being played. At least neither had some 500 attack point creature on the field. She paused and fixed her stare on the game play.

It was over too soon. The very next turn one of the guys played a combination attack and defeated the other's monster. She sighed as she watched them shake hands. It was all Latin to her.

Lily pushed her dark hair back out of her eyes. Damn bangs, she thought idly. She continued to make her way around Kaiba World, but found nothing that caught her attention quite. 

"Hey, miss, do you want to play a duel?" a boy of about nine asked hesitantly.

She paused, then blinked. "Me?"

"Well, yeah," he replied, looking almost embarrassed.

Lily smiled. "I would, but I don't know how to play. I don't understand it at all. That's why I'm here."

"You don't know how to play Duel Monsters?" he asked, his eyes wide.

She shook her head. "Nope." She bent over so that she was face to face with him. "But how about this: if you find someone, can I watch? And you help me learn? Maybe someday I can duel you, then."

"Sure!" he said cheerfully, then looked around. "I don't know many people because I just moved here and you were the only one who didn't look completely busy."

"You mean I looked like a dummy," she muttered bitterly. Imagine, being so much older than this kid and not even being able to play a game against him!

"Huh?"

"Uhh, nothing," she replied, her face clearing and she felt more than a little foolish at her irritation.

"Okay." He glanced around a little more. "Everyone here seems so busy. Is it always this crowded?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Lily replied. "Sometimes it's worse, especially right after the middle and high schools let out."

"Man. Does Seto Kaiba ever play here?"

"Um. I don't really know," she answered truthfully. A brief flash of blue eyes and brown hair played into her mind, but she shoved it down forcefully. Couldn't be.

"Hey, what's your name?" he asked suddenly.

"It's Lily. What's yours?"

"Shun," he replied, almost bouncing in his eagerness. "Lily's a pretty name. Kinda like the flower, ne?"

"Yes," she agreed, glancing around.

"Well, come on!" Shun said with the impatience of youth. He tugged on her hand. "Let's go find someone!"

Someone found them, though it was not in a physical sense. Seto felt like a peeping tom, watching her wander around his playground like this. He couldn't help it, though. He should've been concentrating on trying to make some stupid ad for class, but instead he was sitting in front of his computer, his eyes fastened steadily on a girl he didn't even know.

"Well, well. Never thought I'd see the day when Seto Kaiba turned into a pervert," his computer chimed.

"I am not a pervert," he replied, frowning. "What makes you say that, you insolent piece of machinery?"

"It's obvious, isn't it, sir? You're sitting here watching some girl. The only other time I see you this fascinated by the happenings at Kaiba Land is when someone like Yugi Mutou is playing. Which, these days, is a rare thing indeed. And this girl isn't even playing! So confess. Who is she?"

He hesitated, reluctant to admit that though he had snuck glances here and there at her drawings, he never really paid attention to her name. "Just some girl," he replied nonchalantly, aware that his silence had been too long to pass off his curiosity as passing to his computer.

"Uh-huh. And does just some girl have a name?"

"Undoubtedly. I, however, do not know it," Kaiba returned, glaring at the screen. Damn!

"She's a bit on the short side, isn't she? And she's rather plain. She wears glasses," the computer continued her observations.

"She's not plain," Seto protested before he realized he said it. He growled. "Stop this nonsense before I disconnect your voice again!"

"Hmph," the computer retorted, but desisted its comments. Artificial intelligence was both a blessing and a curse, Seto thought darkly, but returned to his watching anyway.

She was walking with some kid through the maze of dueling pairs. Seto wondered briefly if that was her kid brother, but quickly dismissed the thought. She had shown up alone and then, Seto presumed, had been approached by the squirt looking for a match. The odd thing was the slightly puzzled look on her face as she watched the dueling. She almost didn't look like she didn't know what was going on. It wasn't a stupid look, though, like many people got when they couldn't understand something. It was a cross between irritation and determination. She really wasn't plain, he realized. But she made herself look that way. Minimal work went into her look.

He watched as the boy led her around. Finally, he ran into another kid who didn't have a partner, and they settled down to duel. She sat behind the kid she had been walking with and occasionally they conferred. The odd thing was that she didn't look like she was helping him; instead, it seemed that he was explaining it to her. Could it be that someone didn't understand Duel Monsters?

A plan formed in his mind. He grabbed up his own deck with his prized Blue Eyes White Dragon cards and headed for the door. He was slightly annoyed when his hand, seemingly acting of its own free will, smoothed down his hair. Very confident, he strolled down to the section where the two kids were dueling. He got a few looks here and there, but no one seemed to want to stop him. That was usually the case when Seto Kaiba had a goal in mind; few tried to get between him and it.

Turn left here, he thought, and make the next right... perfect. He was standing behind the brown-haired girl from his class. "Excuse me," he said softly, "may I watch this match?"

------

So that's it for chapter 02. I feel really strange making them this short, but as you can see with some of my other stories, when I try to force out length I usually end up losing interest in writing. Thank you to those who reviewed. 

On another note, I purchased episodes 1 - 32 on DVD today. Imported DVDs, no less, so I won't be able to read the cover. Eee. But at least I'll have them, so hopefully I'll be able to write this without worrying about mistakes. If I've made any, please let me know. And, as always, comments are greatly appreciated!


	3. chapter 03

I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! I am a poor college student. Please do not sue me, as I do not have much to offer.

This is my first YGO! fic, and it would be nice if a person or two or three could find it in their hearts to review it. (Read: review or I won't write more!) Also, I have only access to the English versions of YGO!, and as such I will be using Tea, Joey, and Tristan instead of Anzu, Jou, and Honda. Sorry… Also, the chapters will tend to be short so I will actually write this. When I start to focus on length, I get obsessed and I can't write. Thank you for reading, and enjoy. ^_^

-----

****

The Heart of A ... Kaiba?

Chapter 03

Lily was watching the match patiently. Much to her surprise, she was actually learning something. For once, anyway, she thought with a slight sigh. Her concentration was so focused that she almost jumped out of her seat when a very masculine voice asked to watch the match.

Upon turning to see who it was, she saw familiar brown hair and blue eyes that had flashed through her mind ever so often. 

If Seto were expecting a look of surprise due to his unexpected visit to the duelists, he would've been severely disappointed in Liliana. Lily's face remained impassive. If anything, a flash of irritation touched her large brown eyes before she could mask it.

"Oh, wow, you're Seto Kaiba, aren't you?" Shun said eagerly.

Now came the reaction. Wine stained her cheeks before she got her reaction under control. Her eyes, framed by glasses that he hadn't really noticed before, stared fixedly at the floor. He smiled at both the question and Lily's behavior. "I am."

Seto Kaiba? Seto _Kaiba?_ She felt, at once, like an idiot. How could she not see this one? He was only Seto Kaiba, one of the top duelists in the world and a multi-billionaire. And yet, she had sat quietly next to him, almost irritated at times in his interest in her sketching and writing, and not had a clue. She could've smacked herself, and if it wasn't for Shun's excited talking babbling, she would have walked away. But, as it was, she couldn't bring herself to abandon her little friend, though she was sure that Seto had seen her embarrassing blush. Bah!

Lily brought her mind back to the match at hand, which was now proceeding at a much slower rate. It was almost as if… oh, bloody heck! She could've sneered in annoyance. The boys were too scared to make a move in front of the great Seto Kaiba. Well, she had seen his work in class, and though in the back of her mind she admitted it was good, she also knew that she could beat him in that field any day.

After a few more minutes of slow, pain-staking moves, she was beginning to get bored. The boys were obviously concentrating on the match, and she tried to, but with having to wait for so long between turns she didn't see how one thing affected the other. She sighed.

Seto, on the other hand, was slightly impressed. He noticed that they were going slower, but he also could tell that the two of them already had fairly decent strategies built up. He over glanced at Lily's face. Well, okay, he stared. But just a little stare! She was gazing at the table still, but her features no longer held the set of someone who was deeply involved in what they were watching. If anything, she looked a bit annoyed.

Her glance raised and brown met blue. He gave her a small smile, something that most girls would have killed for, and got … a glare? So that was the way of it, then. His smile faded and his mouth settled into a straight line. He was not accustomed to attempting to be nice to people, and when he did it was usually met with friendliness. But to be downright rude? How dare she!

Lily noticed how quickly his little flirtatious smile disappeared at her dirty look. She wasn't sure if she should be happy or if she should be slightly disappointed. She opted to be cheered by that smile being gone. It was, at the least, distracting. She could almost get to care for someone who smiled like that. Almost.

The game was finished, with Lily's little friend the victor. The two shook hands and parted ways. He turned to her, an exuberant smile on his small face. "Did you see that? Huh? I beat him!"

"Good job," she replied, grinning back. She caught a weird look on Seto's face, but it was gone before she could analyze it. She had heard many stories about the head of Kaiba Corp -- including some about him being a womanizing jerk. She didn't plan on being yet another number for him. As she studied him, very covertly, she started recalling the pieces of information that she had heard about Seto Kaiba. Jerk seemed to be among the top ten words associated with him. Bastard, cruel, heartless, were thrown in there, too.

Thus, she was surprised when a small hairball hurled itself at Seto and was enclosed in a hug. "Seto!"

"Mokuba? What are you doing back already?"

"I, er, needed some money, big brother," Mokuba replied, digging into the floor with his toe.

Seto's eyes narrowed slightly as he regarded his brother. His expression was thoughtful, not irritated. He led his little brother away from the group.

Lily watched the exchange with growing curiosity. This was certainly unexpected. The tenderness and love with which he regarded the younger Kaiba was astonishing. From what she picked up in the conversation, Mokuba had been picked on… yet again. Being the little brother to Seto Kaiba surely had it's perks, but apparently it had its downsides as well. When Seto rejoined Lily and Shun, his formerly clear blue eyes were now stormy.

"Excuse me," he said, his voice harsh and grating. "I have some things to attend to."

They exchanged good-byes, with Seto adding that he would see Lily in class. He then wished Shun good luck with his dueling, and ushered Mokuba into one of the miscellaneous private doors.

Shun, apparently following the trend, also bid Lily goodbye. He said that his parents were waiting for him, so Lily found herself alone in the busy place. She looked around, then decided that she too was going to make a hasty exit.

She was a bit hungry, so she went down a block and found a small restaurant. It was cozy enough, without being downright cheerful and intrusive. She ordered a sandwich and a glass of water. Nothing fancy, just the bare basics. She was used to those.

Her mind wandered around a bit, from class to Kaiba. She could still feel the twist of embarrassment as she realized that he was not just another peon whose projects took up her valuable time as they were reviewed. He was the head of a multi-billion dollar industry.

But did this really make him any different from the other idiots in the class?

She had to admit that some of the people had talent. _Hell_, Kaiba had talent. She wasn't going to short-change him, despite her apathy where he was concerned. And he was damn cute.

Liliana shook her head, trying to clear that thought away. Still, she had to admit that his ideas and artwork were better than average. Of course, she thought with a cocky smile lighting her face, they were no where near her caliber.

Then again, he apparently had more to offer than good ideas, money, and good looks. The way that he handled Mokuba was boggling. Lily was an only child. From what she had gathered from observing other sibling pairs, the younger was usually regarded as a nuisance. She doubted that whoever was unfortunate enough to pick on Mokuba was foolish enough to do it again.

She growled in frustration. Why was she wasting her time thinking about him? Sure, she had covertly checked him out during the semester, but hell! He was just another guy, just another idiot in the spectrum of human life. He didn't deserve any more thought than her jerk of a professor, Adam. And yet, here she was, thinking about him and his little brother. She didn't even know the kid!

Her sandwich arrived and she nodded her thanks at the waitress. Bite, chew, swallow. Drink water. Repeat. Her body went through the motions of eating without her really thinking about it. Her mind was still set onto Kaiba station.

He does have really gorgeous blue eyes. So temperamental, too. She had gotten a glimpse of his anger today, when he came back over to bid them farewell. She wondered what it was like to be an enemy of the tall man. Then, for just a fleeting moment, she wondered what it would be like to kiss him.

Lily's eyes darkened. She didn't want to think about pressing her lips against anyone's, least of all some womanizing jerk's lips. She'd had her fair share of relationships. Some were intimate, some were merely… there.

Even now, she couldn't bring herself to think about sex as being just that. It was either someone she had "dated" or "hung out with" but never someone she had just had sex with. And those days were over. Long gone, along with who she used to be. She had moved to get away from who she was and who she was turning out to be. It wasn't the most exciting life, but it was the most peaceful she'd ever had. No more drama, she told herself. And if she had anything to say about it, that was how it was going to stay.


End file.
